A weekly summary of news from the syndicated newspaper/web column, The Canadian Report, by Jim Fox.

Welcome

Greetings to thousands of readers the past month from the United States and Canada, as well as the United Kingdom, Russia, India, Germany, France, Japan and Latvia.

Total Pageviews

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Canadian tourists could feel price, crowd impact from U.S. plans for Cuban ties

**
Merry Christmas **

Canada
column for Sunday, Dec. 21/14

THE CANADIAN REPORT

(c) By
Jim Fox

Plans by the United States government to re-establish diplomatic ties
with Cuba could have a major impact for Canadian tourists.

More than one-million Canadians visit the tropical island nation each
year to enjoy a relatively inexpensive getaway but that could change once the
U.S. lifts a 53-year-old travel ban for Americans.

There
would be a “tsunami of curiosity tourism” that would likely cause prices to
rise substantially, possibly “squeezing Canadian tourists,” said economics
Professor Arch Ritter of Carleton University.

Other experts agree that Cuba will need a massive investment in
infrastructure for hotels and cruise-ship docks to accommodate a new influx of
tourists.

In
recent years, Canadian tourism companies have assisted many Americans wanting
to visit Cuba by booking trips via Canada.

When President Barack Obama announced the agreement reached with Cuban
officials, it was learned that Canada played a central part in hosting the breakthrough
diplomatic talks.

U.S. officials said Canada was “indispensable” in hosting the majority
of the secret talks that took place for more than a year.

---

Court documents indicate the Ontario Liberal caucus paid $10,000 to have
information deleted from computers in the premier’s office in an alleged
cover-up.

The information was contained in an application for a search warrant by
the Ontario Provincial Police investigating deleted documents.

They concerned the Liberal government’s decision to cancel two unpopular
Toronto-area gas plants in order to help them win the 2011 election.

An
auditor’s report suggested the move to cancel the plants being built cost taxpayers
up to $1.1 billion.

The alleged incident occurred before former Premier Dalton McGuinty
resigned and Kathleen Wynne was named to succeed him.

---

News in brief:

- Quebec-based
convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard has reached a $1.7-billion
deal to buy The Pantry Inc. with more than 1,500 locations in 13 states. The
Pantry, which operates primarily under the Kangaroo Express banner, will
increase Couche-Tard’s 1,225 stores in the U.S. southeastern and Gulf Coast
regions. In Canada, it operates under the Couche-Tard and Mac’s brands along
with Circle K throughout the U.S.

-
Canadians shouldn’t expect any price breaks from domestic airlines even with
the 40-percent drop in oil prices. Transport Minister Lisa Raitt said the
government won’t intervene to have airlines lower fares or – in the case of Air
Canada – drop fuel surcharges on international flights.

---

Facts and figures:

Canada’s dollar is lower at 86.04 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar
returns $1.162 in Canadian funds, before bank exchange fees.

The
Bank of Canada’s key interest rate is steady at 1 percent while the
prime-lending rate is unchanged at 3 percent.

Stock
markets are higher, with the Toronto exchange index at 14,443 points and the TSX
Venture index at 672 points.

The average price of a liter of gasoline across Canada is down to 99.5
cents (Canadian).

- Danielle
Smith, leader of Alberta’s Official Opposition, and eight of her Wildrose colleagues
“crossed the floor” of the legislature to join the ruling Conservatives. Smith
said she no longer opposes new Premier Jim Prentice who supports her party on issues
such as land rights and fiscal conservatism. The switch gives the Conservatives
72 of the 87 members of the legislature.

-
Emma Czornobaj, 26, convicted of causing a fatal traffic accident after
stopping her car to help ducklings cross a busy highway, was sentenced to 90
days in jail. A motorcycle crashed into her stopped car in Montreal in 2010
killing Andre Roy, 50, and his daughter Jessie, 16. Czornobaj, who is appealing
her conviction, was also prohibited from driving for 10 years.

-
The British Columbia government has approved a mail-in referendum next year on
a new mass transit tax. It would be called the Metro Vancouver Congestion
Improvement Tax, amounting to 0.5 percent. It would raise $250 million a year
to fund part of an $8-billion, 10-year transit improvement plan.